The leaders of the European Union have just granted “candidate status” to Ukraine. But on the ground, fighting continues in the Donbass. The Ukrainian population hopes to escape as much as possible, despite the geographical proximity, from the Russian mode of operation. What we hear over there is: “Putin, we don’t want your Russian life”. Which means, for example, the absence of privacy and freedom of thought. The head of the Kremlin has been there for 22 years now as an autocrat. And, there is a form of pride in Ukraine to have had six different presidents since independence in 1991. And then there is another hope: that of living better.
“I don’t know how quickly Scholz will make a decision”
Millions of Ukrainians work in Germany and Poland, and thus immerse themselves in the European way of functioning. They also aspire to have European salaries, two, three or four times higher than those of the country. And for those who live in Poland, they have seen in a few years the radical improvement of the country’s infrastructure with the arrival of motorways and the possibility for Poles to move around the Union.
Ukrainian forces were ordered to withdraw from Donetsk. The Ukrainians also expect military aid. “We don’t have enough long-range artillery. The Germans say they’re going to help, but right now they’re just talking. They’re looking for every reason not to deliver equipment. I don’t know how quickly Scholz will make a decision. Maybe when Russia touches German territory,” the governor of the Lugansk region told Europe 1 on Monday.
Recent modern systems from the West
Deliveries of weapons and vehicles from Europe have already been made. The most visible is that of London with vehicles registered in Great Britain and driving on the right. Almost all four used in the Donbass and in the South are. You also see British-made artillery with towed guns sometimes on the roads. Other heavy weapons from other countries are not visible yet. And then we also see coming from the West, and heading towards the Donbass, military trucks which were still registered either in Poland, or in Finland, or in Germany. And then there is visible aid, European or elsewhere, in operation management equipment.
Ukrainian officers are sometimes in discussion on touch pads, which does not correspond at all to equipment of Soviet origin, but rather to recent modern systems from the West.